Extraordinarily powerful creatures possess exploitable weaknesses, and well-prepared PCs learn about them before charging into the fray.

These creatures aren’t dumb. They recognize their own weakness. Some cultivate relationships with less powerful creatures to help offset those weaknesses. They offer protection or treasure in exchange for the lesser beings’ useful abilities.

These lesser beings are called “rider monsters.” Rider monsters add a wrinkle in combats against boss monsters you might find in the Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault. They force PCs to deal with the minor threat until they can negate the advantages granted by these weaker combatants.

Ululating Goat

This gray goat stands roughly the same height as a pony. The animal stares outward with eyes featuring two horizontal pupils, while it voices a continuous series of disturbing, pulsing tones.

Void-Touched Ungulates. Ordinarily found near portals and temples devoted to unfathomable dark deities, ululating goats display signs of corruption from their surroundings. Their fur changes to various gray hues, matching any patterning they had prior to their mutation, their horns spiral in and then back out, and their eyes have two pupils. Most disconcerting of all, the goats continuously bleat in a high register almost as if in reverence of the deities they have yet to see.

Selang Pets. Selangs find ululating goats near the portals they seek and often domesticate one or two of the young. The goats respond favorably to creatures from the Void or those influenced by it, so they readily accept selangs as their masters. The animals become protective and often dart to interpose themselves when something threatens their masters. The goats enjoy selang piping and always raise their strange voices to complement the music, increasing—or more rarely, decreasing—the piping’s effectiveness.

Indiscriminate Appetites. As one of the benefits ululating goats enjoy resulting from their transformation from ordinary goats, they can sustain themselves on anything they eat. They prefer grasses and other plant matter but can be satisfied with carrion, garbage, and non-nutritious or dangerous material, such as rusted metal. Selangs take advantage of this feature to coax ululating goats into chewing through unpleasant or tough barriers, or dispose of inconveniences.

Distasteful Disasters. Ululating goats left to roam freely often devastate other livestock as they take over promising pastures. They show no devotion to the owners of these lands, unless the owners happen to be Void cultists with a palpable mark of the Void. The goats’ flesh induces nausea in those unaccustomed to eating it if not properly cooked, and even then, the meat tastes rancid.

ULULATING GOAT             CR 2

Medium Fey (Animal)

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 55
Speed 40 ft.
Perception 13    Stealth 11
Resistant poison, psychic | frightened, poisoned | Fey Resilience
Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Languages understands Void Speech but can’t speak

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
+3	+1	+4	−4	+1	+3

Fey Resilience. The ululating goat is resistant to the charmed and unconscious conditions.

Uncanny Sight. The ululating goat’s Perception is 18 when perceiving by sight.

Unnerving Ululations. The ululating goat constantly utters a high-pitched, rhythmic sound. A creature that starts its turn within 60 feet of the goat and that can hear the goat must succeed on a DC 13 WIS save or have disadvantage on the first attack roll or ability check it makes during its turn. A creature that succeeds on its save is immune to this goat’s Unnerving Ululations for 1 hour.

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The ululating goat makes one Bite attack, one Head Butt attack, and one Hooves attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.

Head Butt. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If the ululating goat scores a critical hit, the target must succeed on a DC 14 CON save or become stunned for 1 round.

Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 STR save or be knocked prone.

Frightening Scream (Recharge 5–6). The ululating goat unleashes a high-pitched, soul-shattering scream in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 13 WIS save, taking 7 (2d6) psychic damage and becoming frightened for 1 minute on a failed save, or half as much damage and not frightened on a successful one. A frightened creature can repeat its save at the end of each of its turns ending the effect on itself on a success.

REACTIONS

Accompaniment. If the ululating goat hears piping from a selang or other creature of the Void, it can add its voice to the piping. Roll a d4 and subtract 2 from the roll (resulting in a range of −1 to 2). The save DC for the piping is adjusted by that amount.

Thwart Attack. If a creature moves at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a selang or other creature of the Void, the ululating goat can move in a straight line up to its speed to intercept the creature’s movement.

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